


Winning You Clover

by thehibiscusthief



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Chat takes advice from romance novels, Copious caffeine consumption, F/M, Identity Reveal, Language of Flowers, sleep deprived Marinette, this was supposed to be cute but turned kinda cracky
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-23
Updated: 2016-08-23
Packaged: 2018-08-10 12:02:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7844146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thehibiscusthief/pseuds/thehibiscusthief
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Marinette may not have known who was leaving flowers on her balcony every night, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to find out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Winning You Clover

**Author's Note:**

> most of this was written rather late at night
> 
> prompt from adrienagrests on tumblr: Chat leaving one flower on marinette’s balcony every night. each flower has a meaning that is supposed to tell how he feels about her

For the past week, something very strange had been happening.

Every night, sometime between when the starry cloak of night fell over the city and when the pastel hand of dawn swept it away, someone had left a single flower on Marinette’s balcony.

They varied, a different blossom each night. The first had been a crimson gloxinia, the edges of the petals rimmed in white. The second had been a pale pink primrose. Then, a spray of simple green bells of Ireland, followed by a delicate white arbutus, then a vibrant snapdragon. At this point, Marinette had taken to sitting on her balcony at night, trying to stay awake to catch the culprit. She awoke each morning to the cooing of pigeons with a flower gently woven into her hair- an orchid, a jonquil, an iris.

She was baffled.

Completely bemused.

Who could be leaving them?

Who liked her enough to stop by her balcony each night with a new flower?

Who was close enough to dare to tuck a blossom into her hair?

She would say her partner, yet as far as she knew he had no clue she was Ladybug and did not know her as Marinette at all. There was no one else, she was sure of it.  So she continued her attempts at vigilance, each night vowing to stay awake and each morning cracking her defeated eyes open to shafts of too-bright sunlight.

But this night....

This would be the night.

Marinette looked at her stash of caffeine piled next to her lounge chair. Two thermoses of coffee, a sixpack of Redbull, and a half dozen energy shots for good measure. She settled back comfortably, pulling a light blanket over her and twisting open the first thermos.

She would do it. She would stay on the roof all night, awake this time, and finally catch the source of the flowers.

A few hours later, she was regretting her plan quite a bit. 

Chugging caffeinated liquids without a bathroom plan was not a good idea, but she would hold out. She would hold it until she caught the flowery culprit. She could do it. All she had to do was not think about it.

In the distance, she could hear the quiet rushing of the Seine. The third biggest river in France, where millions of gallons of water probably flowed everyday. A staple of the tourist experience. Many would ride boats, heading up or down the river, leaving slight waves in their wake that would splish and splash into the riverbanks with a slight cymbal crash and then rejoin the river. Small rivulets of the riverwater would remain on the banks, slowly drip, drip, dripping down in miniature rivers to return to the massive, everflowing Seine...

Okay, she couldn’t make it until morning.

She could be quick, right? She could run to the bathroom and make it back before the mysterious flower person had a chance to drop by. She hadn’t seen anyone lurking around, so surely they were nowhere near.

Groaning, she shoved the mound of discarded caffeine containers off of her and threw the blanket off. She bolted down the ladder and sprinted to her bathroom, slamming the door shut. A few minutes later, she barged back through the door and rushed back up to the balcony. It hadn’t even been five minutes. There was no way they’d made it-

There was a sweet alyssum resting on top of the lounge chair.

Well, crap.

She sighed. There was no point in staying out later if they had already come by. She began to clear up the remnants of her caffeine-fueled resolution, leaving the small white blossoms on the chair. She would get it in the morning.

Tossing and turning for the rest of the night, she reflected on how it was impossible to turn caffeine’s effect off if one no longer needed it.

Needless to say, she was not at her best the next day.

A calla lily was left the next night, then a smilax, then a daffodil. Each night, she accidentally dozed off, still wary of the last caffeine incident. Whoever was leaving them certainly knew their flowers; she’d had to google at least half of them to learn the names. They had to be fairly well off, too. Buying flowers everyday had to be expensive. Maybe if she looked at all the flowers she had recieved, she could narrow it down to customers of a flower shop. They were probably all from the same one and there couldn’t be many flower shops that sold such a variety.

(There were.)

The next night, once again, Marinette brought her caffeine stash to the roof. This time, she wouldn’t chug them all at once. She would sip them slowly, when she was getting sleepy. No need for bathroom breaks. She would catch them this time, she knew it. Huddled on the striped lounge chair, clutching a cup of coffee in her hands, she waited.

And waited.

And waited.

They never showed.

No flower appeared on her roof that night. The one who left them must have been watching, waiting for her to leave just as she waited for them to come out. 

So they knew not to come when she was watching. Okay. That just meant she needed to change her plans, be less obvious. Not sit in plain sight. She could deal with that, as long as she had some help.

Picking up her phone, Marinette dialed the number of the person she knew would be able to provide stealth.

“Hey babe!” a cheerful voice rang out.

“Alya, I need a favor,” she said in a hushed tone, peering out of her window to see if anyone was hanging around the rooftops.

“Yeah, what is it?”

“Do you still have those binoculars from when you were stalking Ladybug?”

“I was never stalking Ladybug!” Alya said in an indignant squawk. “I was conducting an investigation. Very professionally.”

“Do you have them or not?” Marinette hissed into the phone.

“Yeah girl, I can get them to you on Monday.”

Marinette let out a breath, her entire body relaxing. Perfect. Alya was the perfect friend. Everything would be-

Wait.

Monday?

Nononono, she needed them  _ today _ .

“Can you get them to me this afternoon?” she squeaked.

“Sorry girl, I’ve got babysitting all weekend. I promise I’ll bring them Monday morning. What do you need them for anyway?”

“OopsI’malmostoutofminutesbye!” 

“Mari, no one uses minutes any-”

Marinette ended the call.

Okay, so she didn’t have binoculars. That was fine. It would be fine. She could do it another way. She would be stealthy on her own. She was Ladybug, for heaven’s sake! She could do anything-

Ladybug.

That was it! She would hang out near her house as Ladybug and watch her balcony all night. This would work. Once the sun went down, she would transfom, leap across the street, and sit there.

“Tikki, I’ve got it!” she cried, scooping the kwami up in her palms. Tikki yawned, stretching her small arms out as far as they would go.

“Marinette…” she mumbled. “We haven’t gotten a full night’s sleep in a week. Go to bed.”

“Transform me!”  
“ _Mari-”_

A swirl of pink sparkles shimmered around Marinette before settling into the polkadotted suit. She bounced a few times on the balls of her feet. It felt good to be in costume again. There hadn’t been an akuma for a while and she’d been skipping patrols to watch for the culprit behind the flowers. Chat was probably annoyed with her, but that didn’t matter, because tonight everything would be revealed.

She climbed onto her balcony, then threw her yoyo around a chimney on the other side of the street and swung over. Nestling in the shelter of a protruding window, she readied herself for the long night of watching ahead of her.

She was so focused on her balcony she didn’t even notice her eyelids beginning to droop.

Marinette awoke the next morning, still in Ladybug’s suit, with a pigeon starting a nest in her hair. She dislodged the bird with a shake of her head- oh, that was going to be a pain to get out, there were so many  _ twigs _ \- before groggily standing up.

Peering across to her balcony, she spotted a small speck of green in the center.

Fantastic.

They’d done it again.

She leaped over the street, bending down to get a better look at the offending flora. It was a cattail this time. 

Whoever was leaving her flowers- no, plants at this point, surely- clearly had a unique sense of beauty.

She stood on her balcony, swaying with exhaustion, squinting at the fuzzy weed in her hand, when she felt a strong arm weave itself around her back.

“Careful, My Lady, you look like you’re about to faint.”

She reacted without thought. Her elbow jerked back. There was a faint  _ crunch _ and a pained yelp. Twisting around to continue the assault, she pulled out her yoyo and drew her arm back for a throw.

She froze at the sight of her partner crouched on her balcony, clutching his nose, small red dots scattered beneath him.

Had she broken his nose?

Oops.

“Well, that was rude,” he huffed. ”I’m pawsitively offended.”

“Huh?” she squeaked. He gingerly prodded his bleeding nose, wincing, before looking up.

“Did you like them?” A cheerful grin spread across his face. “I put a lot of thought into which flowers would fit.”

Was she hearing this right? Her partner had been leaving her, leaving  _ Marinette _ , flowers for the last two weeks. And was talking to her as Ladybug about it. Addressing her.

Did he know her identity?

“Hey, are you okay?” he asked. She nodded, no more than a slight bob of the head, before keeling over. Her transformation released in a burst of pink sparkles.

“Crap! Crap, okay, let’s just- let’s get you to bed, you must be exhausted, oh crap I’m sorry-” he babbled as he unlatched the trapdoor and gently pushed her into her bed. “I didn’t think you would stay up so late every night, you were usually asleep by the time I came by- this is completely my fault I was trying to be cute I'm sorry-”

She gave sleepy mumbles in response to his unending monologue of apologies and worrying, nestling deeper into her familiar bed. Beds were marvelous things, a brilliant invention. She would never leave her perfect bed again. Closing her eyes, she let herself drift into sleep.

She awoke a few hours later, when shafts of afternoon sunlight pierced through her window. Chat was sitting cross-legged on her lounge, fiddling with something. Looking up, he noticed she was awake and tucked whatever it was into a pocket.

“Sleep well?” he asked, a gentle grin on his face. She rubbed her eyes, beginning to sit up.

Hang on. 

Why was Chat in her room?

“Why are you here?” she mumbled, shooting a glance at him. His eyes darted away and a faint blush began to rise on his cheeks. Bits and pieces of what had happened before she passed out began to filter through her mind.

She blinked.

“ _ You're _ the one who's been leaving flowers?” she shrieked. “You've been sneaking onto my balcony every night? Chat, what the f-”

“I'm sorry!” he blurted. She paused in her tirade. “I saw you transform and I've been crushing on both sides and I wanted to do something nice and flower language always goes down well in romance novels and- hey, quit laughing at me!”

“You’ve been taking advice from  _ romance novels _ ?” she gasped through her giggles. “Chat, oh my gosh.”

“Are you mad I saw you transform?” he asked meekly.

“I'm too tired to care,” she laughed, dropping back into her bed. “I can't believe you trusted  _ romance novels _ . What were you going to do next, try for a kiss in the rain?”

“Funny you should say that-”

“Listen, kitty, romance novels are the worst place to go for dating advice.”

“Princess, can we please stop talking about romance novels?!” he groaned.

“So about crushing on both sides-”

“Back to romance novels, if you don't mind.”

“Got it,” Marinette said, grinning. “Hey, who are you, anyway?”

“I thought you wanted identities to stay secret…” he trailed off. She shrugged.

“Well, you already know me. I might as well know you.”

“Are you sure?” he asked tentatively. She nodded. “Well, okay then…”

Green sparks filled the room for a moment, dying down to reveal a grumpy looking cat and-

“Adrien?!” she screeched. Oh, this was bad, this was really bad, she'd been teasing  _ Adrien _ , she would never get married and have three children and a hamster-

“I knew it, you don't like me,” he mumbled, looking at the floorboards. 

“No, that's not it, it's just- um-”

Tikki darted out of the bed. She zoomed over to the handle dangling from the loft and yanked it down, displaying Marinette's copy of Adrien's schedule. Returning to the bed, she gave Marinette a smug smile.

“Oh,” he breathed. She hid her burning face in her comforter.

“Ooh, looks like someone has a cruuuush,” the black kwami drawled.

“Plagg, shut up,” Adrien hissed. Marinette burrowed further into the blanket.

“It was mutual!” Tikki chirped. “There's nothing to be ashamed of!”

Marinette made a sound like a dying whale. The steps leading up to her loft creaked. A gentle hand pulled the comforter away from her face, leaving her no choice but to look into a pair of emerald eyes.

“Um…” Adrien began. “Would you like to go on a date sometime?”

Marinette fainted.

_ Some time later… _

“So, my Lady,” Chat called. They were on patrol as usual, leaping across the rooftops of Paris.

“What is it, chaton?” she replied, swinging ahead of him.

“I heard from a little birdie it was someone's birthday today.” That would be her parents. Meddling as always.

“I thought cats ate little birdies?” she said, pausing as she waited for him to catch up.

“I had plenty of cream that day. But I have a special present for you,” he said with a grin, landing silently next to her.

“Oh yeah? What sort of present is it, minou?” she said, preparing to throw her yo-yo again.

“Just this.”

A small bit of green appeared in front of her. Was that… a four leaf clover?

She raised an eyebrow. “Really, Chat?”

“They say you can never be too lucky,” he sang, tucking it behind her ear before dancing away.

Chuckling, she threw her yo-yo and continued after him.

He may have been a flowery dork, but he was her flowery dork.

**Author's Note:**

> ooc what no its just my head canon (d é s o l é e)  
> check out my tumblr thehibiscusthief
> 
> flower meanings:  
> 4-ARBUTUS- Thee Only Do I Love  
> 3-BELLS OF IRELAND - Good Luck  
> 12-DAFFODIL - Regard; Unrequited Love; You're the Only One; The Sun is Always Shining When I'm with You  
> 14-Clover, Four-leaved- Be mine  
> 13-CATTAIL - Peace; Prosperity  
> 8-IRIS - Fleur-de-Lis, Emblem of France: Your Friendship Means So Much to Me; Faith; Hope; Wisdom and Valour; My Compliments  
> 10-LILY Calla - Beauty  
> 11-SMILAX - Loveliness  
> 7-JONQUIL - Love Me; Affection Returned; Desire; Sympathy; Desire for Affection Returned  
> 6-ORCHID - Love; Beauty; Refinement; Beautiful Lady; Chinese Symbol for Many Children  
> 2-PRIMROSE - I Can't Live Without You  
> 1-GLOXINIA - Love at First Sight  
> 5-SNAPDRAGON - Deception; Gracious Lady  
> 9-Alyssum, Sweet-Worth beyond beauty


End file.
